How to break a weightlifting world record

Deadlift world record: 500kg

Ever deadlifted two grizzly bears in one go? Eddie Hall has. Well, sort of. Although it happened in a poorly-lit hall in Leeds rather than the great American outdoors, Britain’s strongest man recently managed to deadlift the equivalent weight in iron. That's half a ton.

Blood vessels in his head exploded. He lost consciousness for a few seconds. Then he came round to a massive nosebleed. But the 28-year-old had done it. He’d deadlifted five stones more than anyone else on the planet has ever done. There's a reason he's the star of this month's Body Issue.

So how did the 192cm tall, 183kg giant do it? Getting the basics right...

How to deadlift with perfect form

- Squat down and grasp a barbell with your hands roughly shoulder-width apart.

- Keep your chest up, pull your shoulders back and look straight ahead as you lift the bar. Focus on taking the weight back onto your heels and keep the bar as close as possible to your body at all times.

- Lift to thigh level, pause, then return under control to the start position.

1. “The bar should be right next to your shin to prevent you reaching too far forward,” says expert PT Van Asch. “This allows you to lift with your entire body.” Reaching too far forward will unbalance you, preventing all of your muscles from working in harmony and emphasising some over others.

2. Take up yoga. Yes, yoga. Why? It’s no longer the preserve of dreadlocked hippies and yummy mummys. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that 90 minutes of bikram yoga is enough to significantly improve your isometric deadlift strength. The increased lower back, hamstring and shoulder flexibility will improve your technique and range of motion, making your lifts easier and more efficient.

3. Get a grip. Double overhand, mixed or hooked; it doesn’t matter which grip variation you choose if you haven’t got the necessary hand strength. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that your inability to grip the bar securely reduces your maximum lift potential by up to 55%. Fill your workout’s rest periodswith active recovery exercises that focus on your hands, like plate pinches.

- Hold a barbell across your upper back with an overhand grip – avoid resting it on your neck. Hug the bar into your traps to engage your upper back muscles.

- Take the weight of the bar and slowly squat down – head up, back straight, buns out. Lower yourself until your hips are aligned with your knees, with legs at 90 degrees – a deeper squat will be more beneficial but get the strength and flexibility first.

-Drive your heels into the floor to push yourself explosively back up. Keep form until you’re stood up straight: that’s one.

1. Keep your feet straight. One of the key mistakes every newcomer makes with a loaded squat is to turn their feet out a few degrees. It assists in supporting weight, but it could cause problems down the road. The solution? Keep your back straight and look forward.

2. Your brain is the only body part involved in every single exercise. Use it wisely. "Visualising the muscles you are working in a sequence from glutes to hamstrings and then quads leads to a more powerful and effective squat," says top PT Tim Hayes.

3. To increase your strength most effectively do 5 sets of 3 reps and, most importantly, take your time. "When you're lifting very heavy in the lower rep range the aim is to activate all of your muscle fibres," says Aitken. "This requires a massive response from your central nervous system."

This means you shouldn’t shy away from rest times. In fact, as a study published in Experimental Physiology shows, increasing your rest time between sets from 30 seconds to a full minute doubles your overall muscle growth.

Bench Press world record: 335kg

Here’s the good news, the press record is smashed more or less every three years. The bad news? If you want to be the next guy to break it you’ve got to lift two times the weight of Game of Thrones’ The Mountain. And he’s not normally in the mood to be picked up.

How did the 192cm tall, 183kg giant do it? The same way any man can: nailing everything below.

How to bench press with perfect form

- Lie back on a flat bench holding a barbell in the rack above you with a shoulder-width, overhand grip.

- Drive your feet into the floor to contract your quads and glutes, and clamp back your shoulder blades to shorten the weight's path of travel. This increases neural drive to your chest, delts and triceps.

- From the starting position, breathe in and lower the bar slowly until it skims the middle of your chest.

- Focus your mind on activating your chest muscles and push the bar back to the starting position explosively as you breathe out. That’s one rep.

1. Negative reps are an excellent way to focus on fast muscle growth because they allow you to overload your pecs. Load up the barbell with a little more than you can lift and take 3-6 seconds to lower the weight, says PT Mitch Lawrence. Swallow your pride and have your spotter earn his salt by lending a hand during the pushing phase of the move.

3. The tate press. Why? Halfway through benching the load starts to shift to your triceps in the middle of the press, however, you stall. At that point, you’re solely relying on your shoulders, chest and back to press the weigh. This is where the tate press comes in – it targets your triceps, maximising the muscle while maintaining the bench press movement.

How to perform the tate press with perfect form

- Lie on a bench and hold two dumbbells directly above your shoulders.

- Slowly bend your elbows to bring the dumbbells to your chest, so your palms face outwards and the dumbbells point towards the ceiling.

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